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Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois.〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=2014-01-20 )〕 The population was 25,638 at the 2010 census, and the mayor of Freeport is James Gitz, elected in 2013. Freeport is known for hosting the second Lincoln-Douglas debate of 1858, and as "Pretzel City, USA", named after the heritage of its Germanic settlers in the 1850s and the Billerbeck Bakery pretzel company that started as a result of their arrival. Freeport High School's mascot is the Pretzel to honor this unique heritage. ==History== The community was originally called Winneshiek. When it was incorporated, the new municipality took its name "Freeport" from the generosity of Tutty Baker, who was credited with running a "Free Port" on the Pecatonica River. The name 'Winneshiek' was later adopted, and is preserved to this day, by the Freeport Community Theatre Group. In 1837, Stephenson County was formed and Freeport became its seat of government in 1838. Linked by a stagecoach with Chicago, the community grew rapidly. In 1840, a frame courthouse was erected and the first school was founded. Within two years, Freeport had two newspapers and in 1853, the two were joined by a third which published in German. By then, the community had a population of 2,000. On August 27, 1858, the second debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas took place in Freeport and gave the nation direction in the following years. Although Stephen Douglas won the election and retained his U.S. Senate seat, his reply to a question on slavery alienated the South, which called it the "Freeport Heresy", and split the Democratic Party.〔Guelzom A. (2008). ''Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America'', page 162. Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-7432-7320-6〕 This enabled Abraham Lincoln to win the Presidency in 1860. A monument to the debate was dedicated in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt and stands at this site. A life size statue recreating the event was dedicated in 1992. Another renowned statue, "Lincoln the Debator" by Leonard Crunelle, is a focal point in the city's Taylor Park. In many years there is also a reenactment of the debate, which has been shown on C-SPAN. Freeport is known as the ''Pretzel City'', and its public high school's team is named the Pretzels. The nickname is a reminder of Freeport's ethnic heritage; in the late 1850s, many Germans, both from Pennsylvania and from their European homeland, resettled in Stephenson County bringing with them their love of pretzel snacks.〔http://www.illinois.com/details/city.php?cityFips=1727884 〕 In 1869, a German immigrant named John Billerbeck established the Billerbeck Bakery which distributed so many pretzels to residents that the local newspaper later dubbed Freeport the "Pretzel City". The city later capitalized on this nickname in 2003 by starting Freeport's first "Pretzel Festival", which has since become an annual event.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Let's twist again )〕 Freeport is home to the oldest Carnegie Library in Illinois and one of the first Carnegie Libraries designed by the famous Chicago architectural firm of Patton and Miller. Before February 1893, a large square of land was purchased from the former Keller-Wittbecker farm in "East Freeport". Some of this land had recently been subdivided and platted as the "Arcade Addition".〔Reference to the ebook History of Stephenson County Illinois, Arcade Manufacturing Company, (page 510 ).〕 The Arcade Manufacturing Company had been in operation since 1885 when the previous Novelty Iron Works had gone out of business at the corner of Chicago and Jackson streets. That earlier company began as early as 1868. After the 1892 fire, the Arcade Manufacturing Company built an entirely new factory in the Arcade Addition of East Freeport, where they produced coffee mills and other metal products. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Freeport, Illinois」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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